


Solitaire

by SleepsWithCoyotes



Category: Star Ocean: The Second Story | Second Evolution
Genre: Archival Fic, Don't copy to another site, Dragons, Interspecies Relationship(s), Masturbation, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Other, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:06:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25543327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepsWithCoyotes/pseuds/SleepsWithCoyotes
Summary: He knows it's silly that he can't get Dias out of his head.
Relationships: Ashton Anchors/Dias Flac/Gyoro | Creepy/Ururun | Weepy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: Coyo's Old Archive Fic





	Solitaire

**Author's Note:**

> Back to working on moving stuff over from the spambot...this one's from pre-2005.

He knows it's silly that he can't get Dias out of his head. It's not like the man would want anything to do with Ashton--Dias has Rena, and...well, Rena seems to be pretty enamored of Claude, true, but just because the girl of your dreams, the girl you grew up with, the girl who is your best friend in the whole world--just because she's found somebody new, that doesn't mean you stopped loving her. Or started looking at guys.

Younger guys, nowhere near as experienced or worldly-wise or...tall, or good with a blade, or with an air of quiet confidence that makes everyone around you feel safe. Or gorgeously sexy, with hair like a long spill of silk and graceful hands and a predatory walk that commands attention. You certainly didn't look at a guy who has none of these things but who _does_ have a pair of dragons fused to his back, not much different from a monster himself.

Gyoro huffs at him and snaps his jaws closed on empty air, completely out of patience with these kind of thoughts, but Ururun butts his head against the side of Ashton's face, gentle and encouraging. The others around the campfire barely look at him, used to the dragons doing odd things for no apparent reason, but Dias glances up and quirks a brow in his direction: not exactly asking, but _asking_. And Ashton is fine, really. He's pretty sure that Dias is the only one who realizes he can talk to the dragons inside his head, not just out loud--that he doesn't just translate what they _say_ \--but Dias hasn't said anything to anybody else. Dias is very particular about privacy, his own and others', and it's just one of the many things that fascinates Ashton.

But he's fine. He's so fine, he stands up with a half-smile and brushes himself off, nothing interesting here, nothing to see. "Um, they're kind of restless tonight. I think I'll take them for a walk before we try to go to sleep."

"I'm not sure we should go off alone," Dias says carefully, and it would be nice if he were offering, but Ashton doesn't have that kind of luck. It's enough that Dias isn't insulting about it, that he--amazingly--respects Ashton as a fighter.

So he smiles casually--he can do casual really well at this point--and says, "That's okay, I'm not alone. It's just to the stream and back. Don't worry about it."

And he gets out of there before Rena can offer to talk to the dragons for him, or Celine can decide to follow him and make sure he gets back in one piece--really to make sure he's okay, but Celine doesn't want to be seen as the mothering type. And she isn't. Seen that way, that is, because it's hard to see anything but her legs after you've seen her Crests flare up in battle, and even Ashton finds himself looking now and then. And he never looks. 

Claude would usually be a danger as well, but Claude isn't leaving Rena alone anywhere with Dias, and his version of 'alone' is pretty broad. Ashton doesn't mind. In fact, he wishes Claude the best luck in the world, one hopeless case to another.

So he gets out. He can't take sitting across the fire from Dias any longer, watching him sharpen his sword of all things, strong hands moving slow and steady over the blade. That shouldn't be erotic--never used to be erotic--but when Dias does it, it is. In fact, it's embarrassing the things that can reduce Ashton to a quivering pile of _yes, please_ when Dias is the one doing them. He tries not to think about that as he slips into the trees, moving silent and careful as the dragons keep close watch all around, their superior eyesight guiding him over stones and upthrust roots.

He doesn't like to lie, though, so he goes down to the stream after all. He just doesn't come right back. To be fair, he only implied he would. There's a convenient rock near the crumbling bank, too steep to sit on but perfect for leaning back against, even with the dragons in the way. There's a sloping roll at the base that ends just below where their necks are fused to his back, and he drops down again and slumps there with his legs stretched out before him, defensive caution the last thing on his mind.

The first thing on his mind is an unsmiling face that maybe doesn't see _anyone_ though the haze of old pain Dias carries wrapped around himself. Ashton doesn't know what caused it, but Dias is damaged too, just like Ashton, only his unshakeable burden is all on the inside.

_"Awrk!"_

Laughing weakly, he reaches up and strokes a gentling hand down Gyoro's neck, apologizing in silence. He doesn't really think of them as burdens anymore, not in the sense of _unwanted_ \--they're still damnably heavy, but he must be getting stronger, because he doesn't notice it as much anymore. Or maybe he's just been too busy pining. 

"I'm an idiot," he says out loud, just to hear it said by someone who indisputably knows what they're talking about, and Ururun bonks heads with him again, which makes him laugh. "I know, I know. I'm an idiot, but I'm your ride, so I guess that makes me your idiot. You could have done better, though," he adds a trifle wistfully, not because he really wants them to have gone to another, but because it's true. He has the worst luck in the world, and even the dragons pity him sometimes, though they try, in their own odd way, to make things up to him. So they keep an eye out for monsters and play pranks on the people around them and make absolutely shocking remarks he thanks god no one else can understand, and cover it all up with an innocent 'awrk urk' act that has almost everyone fooled.

He has his doubts about Dias, though. So do the dragons--Dias is exempt from the pranks. Although that might just be common sense.

_Silly_ , Ururun mutters at him when he sighs again. _He does look at you, you know_.

_Mm. Watches you a lot_ , Gyoro adds, glaring around as if expecting to see an enemy pop out from behind a bush, or maybe hoping that one will. _If he were a woman, I'd say he was definitely interested_.

"He's not a woman," Ashton reminds, leaving aside the fact that the dragons haven't had much experience with human women except for Rena, who can't make up her mind, and Celine, who put everything out for all to see. In oh, so many ways. 

_It's not that different_ , Gyoro says with a snort, faint sparks like fireflies curling up from his muzzle. _Human, dragon...male or female. People look. Other people look back. That's all there is._

"It's a little more complicated with us, I think. And...people don't look back," he all but whispers, looking down at his hands. They're laced together in his lap, thumbs scrubbing at gloved palms in turn, back and forth over one, back and forth over the other. Wishing things were different but all out of hope, just like his luck.

_I think he does_ , Ururun says kindly, but Gyoro huffs and growls.

_If he doesn't, he's a fool. That child Rena--she'll always be a child, looking for a protector. Your Dias may think he wants that, but he doesn't. You can tell, every time he **doesn't** have to save her, that he's more glad to not have failed than he is to be there for her. It'd be a relief to him to have someone strong_.

_**You're** strong_, Ururun adds--insists, really, when Ashton would have refuted the claim. _You are. You're ours and we're yours. How can you not be, when you have the strength of three?_

"Maybe. I'm just.... He's kind of a legend, and he's...gorgeous." Dias _is_ , and even the dragons don't offer an opinion. Maybe their appreciation for the human form has been refined over the last few months, or maybe they just don't want to set him off on another litany. "It doesn't matter. Even if he is looking at me, I don't think he's looking at me like that. He's quiet, but he's not _shy_."

Not like Ashton is. And even if he thought Dias was looking at him like that, he wouldn't have the first idea what to say.

_I love your hands_ , Gyoro says. _Touch me_.

_"What?"_ Ashton all but shrieks, and he immediately claps both hands over his mouth and prays they can't hear him back at camp. Even though he listens intently, the forest is quiet, and he's just about gotten his heart back under control when he realizes Gyoro is about to hurt himself laughing, sparks rising from his cracked jaws on clouds of smoke. "All right, spill it. What was that all about?"

_Oh, weren't you asking for advice?_ Gyoro asks, all innocence. Ashton resists the urge to strangle him, but only by the barest of margins. And anyway, the dragons' necks are longer than his arms. _I think you already know exactly what you want to say to Dias. The problem is getting you to do it_.

"Well, I'm never going to get the chance, so--"

_Just for practice, then_ , Ururun says, jumping into the fray. _And never say never_.

"I'd feel silly!" He knows he's on the edge of whining, but the dragons rarely chide him for it, because they know he rarely means it. "What am I supposed to say, anyway? 'Dias, I'm desperately in love with you, so would you mind terribly fucking me silly?'"

_It's a start_ , Gyoro says cheerfully, pressing his furnace-warm cheek against Ashton's for a moment. _Then what?_

"What do you mean, 'then what?' Then he probably hits me and never speaks to me again. I mean, if I'm lucky. He could always kill me, chop me into little pieces and leave me as salamander bait, and tell everybody I wandered off looking for barrels or something. No one would ever know."

_No. Then what if he says 'thank you, I will?'_

"He won't."

_He might_.

"He _won't_."

_But if he did_.

"I don't know," Ashton mutters, exasperated. "Are you even supposed to talk after that?"

Gyoro starts, and Ururun cranes his head around to stare Ashton in the face, peering at him with concern. _You humans are that unimaginative?_ the blue dragon asks, and Ashton drops his head in his hands, certain his cheeks are on fire.

"This is so embarrassing."

_Ah. That's half your trouble right there_ , Ururun says decisively, nudging at his hair until he can manage to look up again. _All right. Why not...close your eyes. Just listen for a minute_.

"I don't--"

_Close them_.

Ashton sighs. He closes his eyes, though, his hands knotting tighter as he waits for the next humiliation to begin. Instead, both dragons press their brows against his temples, rubbing like cats, and he sighs into the oddly comforting touches. It's a little like an embrace, but with no arms--and this is why he doesn't open his mouth around strangers. Mad talk always seems to come pouring right out.

_You worry too much_ , Gyoro says firmly. _Just listen_.

_Yes. So. Picture Dias in your mind just after you tell him--not what you're afraid will happen, but what you want to happen. You've gotten him somewhere alone, and you've told him you want him, and he looks...._

"Surprised," Ashton says haltingly, knowing the dragons want him to play along, but...Dias really would look surprised, he thinks, if only because Ashton got up the courage to say something.

_All right. And he says--_

_Good_ , Gyoro offers, dipping his head until his muzzle brushes Ashton's ear, his warm breath puffing ticklishly over Ashton's cheek. _I've been watching you. Have you been watching me?_

"Yes," Ashton murmurs, feeling silly, but he shivers anyway. Gyoro's breath is sweet and spicy, sugar and charcoal, and his mental voice growls into Ashton's ears. In some odd way, it reminds him of Dias.

_I thought so. You want me, don't you?_

"Yes...."

_You have to say it_ , Ururun murmurs, his voice lighter, hypnotic. _All of it_.

"I...I want you."

_How?_

He thinks _oh god_ , but he can't stop now. "I want you to...I want you to fuck me."

_Soon_. He shivers again, the voice in his head no longer belonging to the dragon or to Dias but becoming intertwined.

_And what does he do?_

"He...kisses me, and...touches--"

_Here?_ A flicker-trace of tongue, fever-hot against his throat, just under the line of his jaw. He moans without thinking, tipping his head back in a trance.

"Yes...."

_And you touch him back?_

"Oh, yes. God, I love his hair. I...I want to peel him out of his armor and just _look_ at him."

_Just look?_ Ururun asked, amused, but--

_Not yet_ , Gyoro purrs, dangerous and hungry. _First, you're going to open your robe_.

"I--"

_Do it. Nice and slow_.

He does, fumbling with the catches and ties, his fingers oddly clumsy. He's shy even now, with the voice in his ear telling him to touch himself, just enough, his hands obediently light as they stroke his chest. His fingers pause when they're told, teasing hardening nubs, even-- _Harder, just a little_ \--when it makes him gasp out loud. He doesn't want to stop, but he wants--

"More...."

\--and he groans when the voice says: _Not yet_ and _Soon_. And: _Ask for it_.

"Please...please, Dias, let me...."

_Yes?_

"Let me touch myself."

_Why?_

"Because I...I want to come. I need it. I...."

_Go on_.

"I want to pretend it's you."

_Do it. Slow_.

He does it slow, trembling hands easing his belt open and then his breeches, not daring to touch at first despite the purring satisfaction in his head. Part of him can't stand the thought of a slow tease right now, but Dias wants it, and that's enough to decide him. So he doesn't fist himself all at once but runs the edge of his thumb up the hard line of his cock, shuddering as a long wave of sensation crests at the base of his spine and melts into the pit of his stomach, everything hungry for more.

Another flicker-fast kiss against his throat, there and gone, and he already knows what comes next. _Tell me_.

"I want you to touch me," Ashton says on a gasp, slowly curling his fingers around his shaft and stroking once, pausing before he does it again. "I don't care how. Anything...everything you do is good. I wish I could touch _you_. Taste you. I wish you were in me right now."

_Good. More_.

He has more. He just doesn't remember it all, or it all starts to flow together in his head or on his tongue, because he's stroking in earnest now, and it's all yes and please and _Dias, oh god_ , and _I want you. Need you. Please_. And he's so close but not quite there yet, not until that wonderful growl purrs into him a final time with the only thing he needs to hear.

_Come for me. Now_.

"Dias!"

And he's coming and its good, it's incredible, and he's seeing _stars_ as he rocks up into his own fist and collapses at last, drained and lost in a haze. He's sticky, half-naked in the forest, and anyone could have come along while he was occupied, but he feels better than he has in months.

"Oh, wow...."

_Silly thing_ , Gyoro says with a laugh, not growling anymore, and rubs his cheek against Ashton's. _He'd have to be a fool to pass that up. Doesn't everyone want to be loved to distraction?_

"Um. Maybe he doesn't want to be loved by me," Ashton says, but he's feeling too good to spiral back into depression.

_We'll see_ , Ururun murmurs knowingly, fitting his head comfortably beneath Ashton's chin. _Why don't you clean up and go get some sleep?_

"Good idea," he says, and if he's moving a little languidly, he doesn't get teased for it, and he doesn't feel weird that he just brought himself off with two dragons talking him up. They're right there inside his head, all the time--it's a little late for embarrassment, or privacy. Part of him doesn't know what he'd do without them anymore.

He'd be more upset, perhaps, if he knew that while he has no secrets from the dragons, they can still manage to keep a few from him. As he stumbles back to camp, he doesn't even catch a glimpse of the tall figure in the shadows by the stream, but they know the man is there, has been there since shortly after Ashton's unwary yelp of startlement. If it had been anyone but Ashton, Dias might have left it to another to go and investigate that cry, but it _is_ Ashton, and they're not saying a word. It's enough to have caught the dumbfounded look on Dias' face as they pass, and the eyes that now follow their ride with determination and naked hunger.

Gyoro grins at Ururun, and Ururun grins back.

"Awrk," Gyoro says with a chuckle.

"A _wroo."_

That pretty much says it all.


End file.
